Quito (pronounced ‘kito’) is the capital city of Ecuador and has a population of about 2,700,000 people. Since Gregor and I are not big fans of driving through big cities, we didn’t really want to spend too much time in Quito. Ultimately, a string of van-related events led us back to Quito twice over the course of 4 weeks and we spent a total of 18 days in the city.
It was a no-brainer at first: We’re already in Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands are in Ecuador, so let’s go to the Galapagos Islands. Anyone who’s been to the Galapagos will tell you that it’s a fantastic place to visit. The islands are home to exotic species that you won’t find anywhere else in the world, like the Galapagos penguin, marine iguana, giant tortoise, and all sorts of wacky plants and insects.
So why did we consider skipping it and possibly miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
Because a week in the Galapagos was going to cost us four months of travel in South America.
Gregor and I needed to pick a place to stay put for two weeks so that we could concentrate on some serious intellectual endeavours. Gregor wanted to work some extra days to catch up on a software development job. I wanted to take two weeks of Spanish lessons to improve my conversational skills.
A British overlander that we met in Colombia mentioned that there were some decent Spanish schools in a town called Otavalo, located in the Imbabura Province of Ecuador. (more…)
How do we love thee, Colombia? Let us count the ways. Having spent nearly two months in the country, Gregor and I came up with 7 things we love about Colombia. (more…)
Gregor and I were super excited when we found out that our dear friends from Calgary had purchased the sailboat of their dreams. James and Christine had been talking about sailing across the Atlantic Ocean for several years, so when they bought their first bluewater boat it felt like we were witnessing their dream coming true. Their sailing vessel is a beautifully appointed 42-foot Whitby named ‘My Destiny’.